Parachute pack

ABSTRACT

The locking cones are improved on a parachute pack having cover flaps biased to open and a pilot chute biased to spring outward. All of the flaps and the crown of the pilot chute have cone receiving openings, and the only locking cones for the pack extend from inside the pilot chute through the crown openings and through the flap openings. Springs bias the locking cones to move inward clear of the flaps and the pilot chute crown when the ripcord is pulled.

United States Patent 11 1 Cannarozzo 1 1 Aug. 20, 1974 PARACHUTE PACK [76] Inventor:

Box 27, Coeur DAlene, Idaho 83814 {22] Filed: Nov. 3, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 303,489

[52] US. Cl. 244/148 [51] Int. Cl B64d 17/46 [58] Field of Search 244/148, 149, 142, 147

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,498,505 2/1950 Quilter 244/148 2,718,369 9/l955 MacMillan 244/149 Thomas Albert Cannarozzo, Route 4.

Primary ExaminerDuane A. Reger Assistant Examiner-Barry L. Kelmachter Attorney, Agent, or Firm-George W. Shaw 57 ABSTRACT The locking cones are improved on a parachute pack having cover flaps biased to open and a pilot chute biased to spring outward. All of the flaps and the crown of the pilot chute have cone receiving openings, and the only locking cones for the pack extend from inside the pilot chute through the crown openings and through the flap openings. Springs bias the locking cones to move inward clear of the flaps and the pilot chute crown when the ripcord is pulled.

9 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures mamenwcem I 3.830.453

3m? EN 3 FIG 3 FIG 4 amass FIG 5 PARACHUTE PACK THE INVENTIVE IMPROVEMENT The locking cones of a parachute pack have occasionally bound up in a frictional engagement with the pack flaps to prevent opening of the pack when the ripcord is pulled. The invention involves an analysis of the reasons for this and the discovery of a better way of arranging the locking cones to ensure a full and clear release from the flaps and a reliable ejection of the pilot chute. The invention aims at complete reliability in opening a parachute pack and also simplicity, economy and practicality in a locking cone arrangement to acomplish this.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention involves an improved locking cone arrangement for a parachute pack having cover flaps biased to open and a pilot chute biased to spring outward. All of the flaps and the crown of the pilot chute have cone receiving openings, and the only locking cones for the pack are arranged to extend from inside the pilot chute through crown openings and through the flap openings. The locking cones are biased to move inward clear of the flaps and the crown when the ripcord is pulled.

DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a plan view of a preferred embodiment of the inventive parachute pack in open and unloaded condition;

FIG. 2 is a plan veiw of the pack of FIG. I loaded and closed;

FIG. 3 is a cross-section of the pack of FIG. 2 taken along the line 3 3 thereof;

FIG. 4 is a partially schematic, partially cutaway, elevational view of a pilot chute and the locking cones for the pack of FIGS. 1 3;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a preferred pilot chute crown for the invention; and

FIG. 6 is an elevational view of a locking cone and spring arrangement for the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION:

chute, any of which are ordinarily used with a pilot chute. For any of these types of packs the specification will refer to a support chute or canopy and a pilot chute. The pack includes a back 11, top and bottoms flaps 12 and 13, and left and right side flaps 14 and 15. Opposed flaps 12 15 are folded inward and locked together as shown in FIG. 2 to enclose the support canopy and the pilot chute, and spring straps 16 are connected around pack to bias flaps 12 to open. In the cross section of FIG. 3, the support canopy 17 is shown against the back of the pack with a pilot chute 18 over the support canopy 17 just under flaps 12 15. Pilot chute 18 has a compression spring 19 that is compressed when pack 10 is loaded to bias pilot chute 18 I to spring outward from pack 10 when flaps l2 15 are opened. A ripcord handle 20 is used for this.

The invention involves a better locking cone arrangement for a parachute pack such as described above.

Previous parachute packs have used locking cones secured to one of the flaps 12 or 13 and extending through the opposed flap with a ripcord pin holding the flap on the locking cone. In spite of the taper of the locking cone the grommeted flap sometimes bound in frictional engagement on the cone so that it would not open. The reasons for this involve several opposing forces working on the flaps. First, the support and pilot chutes are compressed within the pack to tension the flaps and exert an outward thrust tending to push both flaps outward, and this is especially true of the pilot chute with its compressed spring. This tends to push out the flap carrying the locking cones as well as grommeted flaps. Then, spring straps l6 exert sideways pull on the flaps to urge the grommets forcefully against sides of the cones. In spite of the cone taper, the outward forces from inside the pack and sideways forces from spring straps 16 are sometimes sufficient to bind a grommet on the side of a cone and prevent the pack from opening.

The MacMillan US. Pat. No. 2,718,369, attempted to alleviate some of the problems caused by the compression spring of the pilot chute by using one cone inside the pilot chute and extending through the crown of the pilot chute to compress the spring against the crown of the chute rather than just compressing the spring between the main chute and the pack flap. The remaining cones in the MacMillan pack were still carried by one of the flaps, and still subject to the sideways forces of spring straps l6 and some outward force from the contents of the pack so that complete opening reliability was still not assured.

The inventive solution is to put all the locking cones for the pack inside the pilot chute and have them extend through the crown of the pilot chute and through the flaps rather than being carried on any flap. Then the cones are relatively free inside the pilot chute and can be left loose and free in the pilot chute or biased inward by tension or compression springs so that theytend to snap inward when the ripcord is pulled. The cones are then free of the outward bias that they have when they are carried on a flap, and they are also neutral relative to sideways pull from spring straps 16 so that the flap grommets more readily slide off the cones. The invention preferably uses only a pair of locking cones rather than three or four, so that the only locking cones used can be located in the pilot chute and extend through its crown, but three or more cones can be used if the pilot chute crown is large enough to accomodate them. Such an arrangement of locking cones frees them from then conflicting forces of previous parachute packs and makes pack opening much more reliable. The invention also provides a simple, efficient, and practical locking cone arrangement.

To accomplish the arrangement described above, flaps 12 and 13 have respective grommet openings 21 24, and flaps 14 have respective grommeted end tabs 25 and 26 for receiving locking cones 27 and 28. Flaps l2 and 13 are overlapped with cone 27 extending through grommets 21 and 23, and cone 28 extending through grommets 22 and 24. Side flap 14 has its grommeted end tab 25 fitted over cone 27, and side flap 15 has its grommeted end tab 26 fitted over cone 28. A ripcord pin 29 holds flaps and tabs on cone 27 and ripcord pin 30 holds flaps and tabs on cone 28. When ripcord handle 20 is pulled, pins 29 and 30 are pulled out I of cones 27 and 28 to release all flaps and tabs and pop out pilot chute 18.

The crown 31 of pilot chute 18 has openings 33 and 34 for receiving cones 27 and 28 respectively. Cones 27 and 28 are inside the closed inner cone 45 of pilot chute 18 and can be loose and unsupported or associated with tension or compression springs. The bases 35 and 36 of cones 27 and 28 are inside pilot chute 18 and adjacent the under side crown 31, and the conical portions of cones 27 and 28 extend through crown 31, through flaps 12 and 13, and respectively through tabs and 26 to close pack 10. In loading pack 10, cones 27 and 28 are fished out through crown 31 and temporarily restrained until the flaps are closed.

A compression spring 37 better shown in FIG. 6 can be compressed between base 36 of cone 28 and the underside of crown 31 to bias cone 28 downward into chute 18 to ensure a free release of cone 28 when pin 30 is pulled. The same sort of compression spring can be arranged around cone 27. An alternative arrangement shown in FIG. 4 is tension springs-39 and connected respectively to the bases 35 and 36 of cones 27 and 28 and to the bottom 38 of compression spring 19 or some other location in pilot chute 18 so that cones 27 and 28 are biased downward from under crown 31 and the flaps of pack 10. With either spring arrangement cones 27 and 28 are biased to clear the pack flaps to ensure pack opening. When compression springs 37 are used around cones 27 and 28, crown 31 preferably has a reinforcing or stiffening member 32 in the region of openings 33 and 34 to afford a support against which the upper ends of springs 37 can be compressed.

Cones 27 and 28 can have a single pin hole, or two or more pin holes as desired. Extra pin holes are useful for holding cones or flaps in place in loading and closing pack 10. Cones 27 and 28 are preferably longer than usual to extend fully through crown 31 and flaps l2 15. Different flap arrangements are possible within the spirit of the invention, and different numbers of cones can be arranged in different ways inside a pilot chute to clear the pack flaps freely as described.

Persons wishing to practice the invention should remember that other embodiments and variations can be adapted to particular circumstances. Even though one point of view is necessarily chosen in describing and defining the invention, this should not inhibit broader or related embodiments going beyond the semantic orientation of this application but falling within the spirit of the invention. For example. those skilled in the art will appreciate the variations in materials, flaps, and cone arrangements for applying the invention to various parachute packs.

I claim:

1. In a parachute pack having cover flaps biased to open and held closed with a plurality of locking cones and a pilot chute biased to spring outward, an improved arrangement for said locking cones comprising:

a. all of said flaps having openings for receiving said locking cones;

b. the crown of said pilot chute having a plurality of openings corresponding to said plurality of locking cones for respectively receiving said locking cones;

c. all of said locking cones for said pack being arranged to extend from inside said pilot chute respectively through said crown openings and respectively through said flap openings in a plurality of said flaps; and t d. all of said locking cones being free to move inward clear of said flaps and said crown when the ripcord of said pack is pulled.

2. The locking cone arrangement of claim 1 wherein said cones have a plurality of pin openings.

3. The locking cone arrangement of claim 1 including means for biasing all of said locking cones inward from all of said flaps.

4. The locking cone arrangement of claim 3 including a stiffener in said crown around said crown openings, and wherein said cone biasing means comprises springs compressed between the bases of said cones and the underside of said crown.

5. The locking cone arrangement of claim 3 wherein said cone biasing means comprises springs secured to the bases of said cones and tensioned to draw said cones away from the underside of said crown.

6. The locking cone arrangement of claim 1 wherein a pair of said cones is arranged in said pilot chute, two of said crown openings receive said cones, two openings each in an opposed pair of said flaps register with said crown openings and receive said cones, and one of said openings in each of another opposed pair of said flaps receives respective ones of said cones.

7. The locking cone arrangement of claim 6 including means for biasing said locking cones inward from said flaps.

8. The locking cone arrangement of claim 7 including a stiffener in said crown around said crown openings, and wherein said cone biasing means comprises springs compressed between the bases of said cones and the underside of said crown.

9. The locking cone arrangement of claim 7 wherein said cone biasing means comprises springs secured to the bases of said cones andtensioned to draw said cones away from the underside of said crown. 

1. In a parachute pack having cover flaps biased to open and held closed with a plurality of locking cones and a pilot chute biased to spring outward, an improved arrangement for said locking cones comprising: a. all of said flaps having openings for receiving said locking cones; b. the crown of said pilot chute having a plurality of openings corresponding to said plurality of locking cones for respectively receiving said locking cones; c. all of said locking cones for said pack being arranged to extend from inside said pilot chute respectively through said crown openings and respectively through said flap openings in a plurality of said flaps; and all of said locking cones being free to move inward clear of said flaps and said crown when the ripcord of said pack is pulled.
 2. The locking cone arrangement of claim 1 wherein said cones have a plurality of pin openings.
 3. The locking cone arrangement of claim 1 including means for biasing all of said locking cones inward from all of said flaps.
 4. The locking cone arrangement of claim 3 including a stiffener in said crown around said crown openings, and wherein said cone biasing means comprises springs compressed between the bases of said cones and the underside of said crown.
 5. The locking cone arrangement of claim 3 wherein said cone biasing means comprises springs secured to the bases of said cones and tensioned to draw said cones away from the underside of said crown.
 6. The locking cone arrangement of claim 1 wherein a pair of said cones is arranged in said pilot chute, two of said crown openings receive said cones, two openings each in an opposed pair of said flaps register with said crown openings and receive said cones, and one of said openings in each of another opposed pair of said flaps receives respective ones of said cones.
 7. The locking cone arrangement of claim 6 including means for biasing said locking coneS inward from said flaps.
 8. The locking cone arrangement of claim 7 including a stiffener in said crown around said crown openings, and wherein said cone biasing means comprises springs compressed between the bases of said cones and the underside of said crown.
 9. The locking cone arrangement of claim 7 wherein said cone biasing means comprises springs secured to the bases of said cones and tensioned to draw said cones away from the underside of said crown. 